Europe Express: Macron and Merz move on from fighter jet heartbreak
The threat of a Le Pen presidency has provided an incentive for Paris and Berlin to come together.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron met in the Rhine Valley last week to try and repair relations after the acrimonious collapse of their flagship fighter jet project.
FCAS is likely to serve as a cautionary tale, prompting Paris and Berlin to pursue smaller, more clearly defined forms of co-operation, according to Paul Maurice at the French Institute of International Relations. Such an approach would better suit Germany’s growing defence ambitions. “2017 — the era of the big speeches, the grand visions — is over,” Maurice said. “The world has completely changed.”
Merz’s hawkish shift on China
The two leaders seemed most in agreement on a tougher approach to China. That largely reflects a recent shift in Merz’s own thinking, according to government insiders.
The Chancellor was particularly forceful in discussions about how to better protect EU manufacturers from heavily subsidised Chinese imports and a devalued renminbi, one participant said. German carmakers continue to invest heavily in China despite official calls to “de-risk” and, according to Berlin government sources, are lobbying Merz’s coalition to go easy on trade measures being discussed in Brussels. But they are also shedding jobs and shutting down plants at home, spre ding the pain to the country’s Mittelstand.
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“It’s gradual, but we can see that Germany is starting to shift on the issue of European measures in the face of Chinese industry and its subsidies,” Maurice said.
Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri
The ghost of Marine Le Pen
The possible victory of Marine Le Pen in next year’s French presidential elections hung over the discussions. “It’s the elephant in the room,” Maurice said.
Macron insisted his offer to associate Germany more closely with France’s nuclear doctrine had no financial implication for Berlin. “The goal is to improve the continent’s security deterrence by fuelling even more uncertainty in our adversaries,” he said.
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- Read the article on the website of Financial Times. (For subscribers only).
>> >> Read the joint publication by The Cerfa/Security Studies Center of Johanna Möhring "Bundeswehr: From Zeitenwende (historic turning point) to Epochenbruch (epochal shift)". Ifri Papers, Notes du Cerfa, No. 189, February 2026.
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Paul MAURICE
Secretary General of the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri
